The present invention generally relates to an expandable truck bed, and it specifically relates to a truck bed assembly in which the bed sidewalls may be moved laterally outward, to increase bed carrying capacity, while retaining their vertical posture.
Pickup trucks are characterized by having cargo beds configured to carry items that could not be fitted inside the passenger compartments of most other vehicles, or that would risk damaging upholstery if placed within the passenger cabin. Typically, a truck bed will comprise a rectangular floor, a front wall joined to the frontward end of the floor, a pair of opposing sidewalls joined to the side ends of the floor and a tailgate hinged to the rearward end of the floor. Conventional tailgates are downwardly openable to permit cargo to be loaded onto and unloaded from the bed without having to lift the cargo over an upright tailgate or the sidewalls. However, sometimes the dimensions of cargo to be placed onto a truck are such that that truck's bed simply cannot accommodate the cargo without somehow enlarging the cargo carrying space.
Consequently, adjustable truck bed assemblies and bed add-on devices have been developed in the prior art. Some of these truck bed assemblies are length-adjustable. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,367,858 to Bradford discloses a truck bed extension assembly featuring slide panels that can be slid between a closed position in which the panels are entirely disposed within the bed sidewalls and an open position in which the panels are extended out from within the sidewalls to effectively lengthen the bed. This assembly also includes a second tailgate that provides bed closure when the first tailgate is open and the slide panels are extended the length of the horizontal lying first tailgate. As another example, U.S. Pat. No 5,938,262 to Mills discloses a truck bed assembly which includes a horizontal plate that is slidable relative to the bed floor by way of a rail and roller assembly which operatively connects the plate and the floor. When the truck's tailgate is open, the plate can be slid rearward and locked into position to provide an elongated bed floor. The prior art is also replete with various truck bed attachment devices that can be affixed to the end of the bed to provide rear closure for a longitudinally expanded cargo space when the tailgate is open.
Additionally, there is a plethora of prior art truck bed assemblies in which the bed carrying capacity can be effectively expanded laterally. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 7,059,666 to Harrison teaches a cargo bed in which the sidewalls are pivotally connected to the bed floor such that they can be selectively moved between vertical closed positions and horizontal open positions. U.S. Pat. No. 6,644,708 to Grzegorzewski et al. discloses an operatively similar assembly in which the sidewalls can be laid down. However, a common aesthetic, if not functional, disadvantage of the width-adjustable prior art truck beds of which the present inventor is aware is that, when laterally expanded, they either convert to flatbed configurations that lack side retaining walls, or they require erection of secondary sidewalls or sidewall attachments that adversely affect the truck's appearance.
Therefore, there exists a need for a truck bed that can be expanded widthwise to increase its cargo capacity, but that substantially maintains its appearance and retaining structure throughout expansion. The present invention substantially fulfills this need.